World Record Chapter 10

10. Serious

Serious? There's just a little of it.

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And like that, Iwato spend the weekends without doing much things as if he was mentally tired by his new high school life.
If there's something to say, then it's that Karen's parents gave her a ridiculous amount of money for food expenses, and she continued to stay at the Nagumo's house for some reason.

And today--Monday is the second week of their high school life, and above all, it's Karen's first day of school as an exchange student.

[Hey Karen, I'll leave you if you don't come down soon]
[W-W-Wait! I won't be able to reach the school if you leave me behind!]

When Karen said so, she ran down the stairs.
--But

[... Say, why are you in that attire?]

Iwato leaked a sigh by her usual attire.
Apparently, she seemed to like the white jersey and bloomers, and according to her, she has only those clothes in her luggage.
However, still, she should have a school uniform.
Iwato understood the word [only] in that way, but--

[?? In Sendai's Force Academy, you wear casual clothes to school. No one has a school uniform]

This girl, it looks like she really only have white jerseys and bloomers. And a blue coat.
When Iwato crumpled his eyebrows by that culture, he decided that he will not go to Sendai for the time being in his heart. He had confidence that he can't live in that area somehow.

[Fine then. Nakajima-sensei will probably do something about it]
[Who's that!? Is it the cla.s.s teacher!?]
[Yeah yeah, just prepare quickly]

Just like that, Karen wears her shoes in a hurry and rushes out from the house.
When Iwato sees her off, he point his eyes to the peeping white hair at the stairs, and said this with a smile.

[Well then, I'm off, Tsumu]
[Un...See you]

And a new week of Nagumo's family began.




☆☆☆




On the way to school.

Although Iwato's black hair stands out a lot, Karen who's skipping in a good mood beside him also stands out.
Because the blue coat itself stands out, and in addition to that, she's wearing bloomers. And, huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It's strange to not stand out.

When they continued on walking, Karen suddenly stopped skipping and looked at Iwato with a curious face.

[Come to think of it, why Tsumu-san didn't go to school? She has a cold?]
[Ah...about that]

When Iwato had a wry smile by Karen's words, he looked up at the sky as if he is recalling something.
What reflected in those eyes is--certainly the color of regret.

[Tsumu is a girl who didn't go to the kindergarten due to some special circ.u.mstances. In addition, her mother disappeared when she became aware of her surroundings, and 3 years ago, her biological father...well, pa.s.sed away...]

In an instant, Iwato's expression changes.
That is the first time for Karen to see Iwato with such an expression because he's always easygoing. It was an expression of regret and sorrow.
Karen opened her eyes wide by his expression, and thought of asking more about it. But she restrained herself from doing so because she knows that she should not ask any further.
As a result, she missed the timing to ask Iwato, and he returned to his usual mood.

[Well, there's no way the 9 years old girl who have the thought of an adult due to that can start going to elementary school. According to her, she said [No way...low intelligence...chimpanzee. They are all monkeys] ]

Iwato said so and laughs as if nothing happened.
When they realized it, they almost reached the school. And Iwato will part with Karen who will go to the staffroom while Iwato is going to the cla.s.sroom. At this point, Karen realized such thing.
Perhaps, Iwato predicted that it will be like this so he talked about Tsumugu. Or maybe he thought that [I shouldn't have talked about it].
But Karen has no ways to confirm that, and she understood that he will avoid the question even if she who have lived with him in these few days asked about it.

[Well then, see you later, Karen]
[Ah... O-Okay...]

Like that, Karen parts from Iwato immediately after entering the school building, and in the end, it's been decided that she will go to the staffroom by herself, but--


[Ah, the staff room, I don't know where it is...]


Really, she's unrelated to the word "serious".




☆☆☆




Iwato entered the cla.s.sroom earlier than usual.
Then Eita who always came earlier than Iwato even though he's an idiot, said this to him.

[Oh Iwato, did you know!? There was a dragon-type Unknown that appeared near the pharmacy recently, right? According to the rumors, the one who defeated it was the [Black Pandora]! ]
[Bufu!?]

Of course, he blew out.
Because Iwato was in a quite serious mode. And suddenly, a person who knew what happened there disclose an unfamiliar rumor. It's strange to not blow out.
When Iwato coughs while raising his face, Eita has a grinning face.
He then dragged Iwato to the corner of the cla.s.sroom, and began to speak with a small voice.

[Oioi, [Powerless Black King]. Even though you have such a cool name already, why you never tell me about your another cool name?]
[...I don't understand what you're saying. First, I defeat that dragon. Not that [Black Pandora] guy. Try and use your head a little, idiot]
[Haa? No, I mean you're--]
[In the first place, there's the rumor of that guy having white hair and cheat-like abilities. Totally the opposite of me, isn't that right?]
[I-Is that so...?]

Then, Eita seemed to have heard something from the nearby students, and both of them head back to their seats. Iwato felt relief in his heart that there was no weird rumors spread.

[I don't know what you're trying to do, but why don't you think before putting things into action, you idiot?]
[I don't want to hear that from a shampoo maniac!]

It's really just like he said.
When Eita shouted so, he sighed while folding his arms as if he's angry.

[I thought that if you're really that guy, then I can threaten you. And when I want to get a job in the future, I can get you to help me]
[Something like threaten... you're the worst]
[Shut up. Even if I threaten you, you won't get angry if I buy you a shampoo, isn't that right?]
[Well, yeah]

Iwato said so with a satisfied face.
Eita who have finally learned how to handle Iwato.

[Or rather, if I am him, what kind of job you intend to get? You probably can only be the Special Forces by using the King of Black Coffin's connection]
[...Ah, you're probably right]

Eita mutters softly and looked outside through the window.
What reflected in his eyes is certainly the flame of resolution and burning aspiration.
Iwato had a question after seeing his state. Eita who saw that, leaked a sigh and started to talk uninterestedly.


[Actually, I--]


At an instant, the door slides open, and Nakajima-sensei appears with her usual bamboo sword.

Because she appeared at that timing accidentally, Eita's words stopped halfway, and Iwato looks forward thinking that it was probably nothing significant. It's a huge error to not stop talking in front of this teacher. When Nakajima stands in front of the platform, she said this with an unusual soft voice.

[Um... Today is that. An exchange student from Sendai will come to this cla.s.s. By the way, it's a girl]

At an instant, Eita raised his voice first among the guys.
The serious mood can't be sensed from Eita anymore. And from now on, he will experience the usual love comedy in which he will ask [Why are you a.s.sociated with the exchange student!?] and he will be the protagonist's best friend. However, he who don't know about such thing, is right at the height of ecstasy. Exactly this is called [Ignorance is bliss].
The guys roared with their burning heart, but they became quiet when Nakajima-sensei glared at them with an intimidating air. As a result, the guys sat on their seats back. And of course, Iwato who have no interest other than shampoos and knew who was coming, has no reaction.

[Ah, then, come in]

When Nakajima called out to her, the Sendai's Mahou Shoujo who's wearing the usual white jersey and bloomers with a blue coat on top of it, enters at the same time.
The male students gulped by that appearance.
Then, Nakajima-sensei wrote [Komauchi Karen] on the blackboard, and she moved to the side when the girl reached the platform.
And the girl look around the cla.s.sroom for the first time, and said this while smiling.

[Nice to meet you! I'm Komauchi Karen, 16 years old, and I came from Sendai! I'm now staying in Master's house!]
[[[[...M-Master?]]]]

The man noticed that all of his cla.s.smates looked at where Karen is looking at, and the person himself--Iwato quickly turned around, and said this to Eita.

[You...... I can't believe you make such a girl call you like that...]

After that, Eita took quite a while to clear the misunderstanding.